30-08-2021 BEIJING: China has announced a ban on written exams for six and seven-year-olds. It’s the latest effort to try and relieve pressure on parents and students in a highly competitive education system. Students used to be required to take exams from the first year of primary school, up until …

30-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies ISLAMABAD/ KABUL/ WASHINGTON: A US drone attack struck a vehicle carrying “multiple suicide bombers” from ISIL’s (ISIS) Afghanistan affiliate before they could attack the ongoing military evacuation at Kabul’s international airport, American officials have said. There were few initial details about …

SANA’A: At least 30 soldiers have been killed and 60 wounded in Houthi attacks on a military base belonging to forces of the Saudi-led coalition, a spokesman for Yemen’s southern forces said. Sunday’s attack on the al-Anad military base in the government-held southern province of Lahij was carried out using …

Anti-Taliban march in London 29-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies LONDON/ KABUL/ WASHINGTON/ TEHRAN/ BAGHDAD/ DOHA/ ISLAMABAD:  US President Joe Biden warned that conditions in Kabul during the final days of the US evacuation remain “extremely dangerous” and said his military commanders had informed him during a briefing on …

29-08-2021 Bureau Report KARACHI: A record holding Pakistani miniature artist, Ahsan Qayyum has claimed another record in Guinness World Records, by making the world’s smallest vacuum cleaner. The globally recognised miniature artist is known for his tiny pieces of art made with pencils and pencil lead and he used the …

29-08-2021 Bureau Report NEW DELHI: A 120-year-old woman, Dholi Devi, from district Udhampur of India-occupied Jammu and Kashmir, was administered the second jab of the COVID-19 vaccine on Friday, reported Indian Today. A video of Devi getting vaccinated at her home was posted by Union Minister of State Dr Jitendra …

Bureau Report MELBOURNE: Australian authorities say they will extend a lockdown of the country’s second-biggest city, Melbourne, as they struggle to quell a coronavirus outbreak driven by the highly infectious Delta variant. The announcement on Sunday came as the number of COVID-19 infections in Victoria State, of which Melbourne is …

29-08-2021 WASHINGTON/ TAXES: Thousands of people are demonstrating in the United States capital and in several cities across the country to demand voting rights protection amid a barrage of state-level legislation that would impose ballot restrictions. Held on the anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr’s historic 1963 March on Washington, organizers …

28-08-2021 By SJA Jafri + Bureau Report + Agencies WASHINGTON/ KABUL/ ISLAMABAD: The United States forces helping to evacuate Afghans desperate to flee Taliban rule were on alert on Saturday for more attacks after an ISIL-affiliated suicide bombing killed at least 175 people. Thirteen US service members and 162 Afghans …

28-08-2021 COPENHAGEN: A group of scientists say they have discovered by luck what they believe is the world’s northernmost island off Greenland’s coast. In July, the scientists flew to collect samples to what they thought was Oodaaq Island, that has been known since 1978 but when they checked their position …